Lewis Hamilton has been handed a five-second time penalty for causing a collision with George Russell at the start of the 2026 Belgian Grand Prix, in an incident that ended the Mercedes driver's race on the opening lap at Spa-Francorchamps.
Race stewards announced the penalty during lap 10 of 44, citing "causing a collision" as the reason. Hamilton served the five-second penalty on lap 21 during a Virtual Safety Car period.
(Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images)
The contact occurred during the opening lap when the field was jostling for position behind the leaders. Russell attempted a move as Hamilton held his line, and the two made contact. The Mercedes driver was forced off the track and into the gravel, ending his race on the spot.
The retirement was a particularly damaging one for Russell, who had started from third on the grid and was one of the key title contenders heading into the weekend. "It was a racing incident," Russell said post-race. "Very, very disappointed." Asked about the championship implications, he was brief: "No words at the moment."
Hamilton, meanwhile, continued to push through the field despite the penalty, eventually recording the fastest lap of the race at 1:50.199 at the time of writing.
A Difficult Weekend For Ferrari
The collision capped a turbulent Belgian GP weekend for Hamilton and Ferrari. Earlier in the weekend, during Free Practice 2, Ferrari was handed two separate fines of €5,000 each after both Hamilton's and Leclerc's cars were found not to have had their electronically returned tires physically returned to the appointed tire supplier before the session, a combined total of €10,000 in fines for the Scuderia. The team attributed both breaches to an oversight.
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Hamilton had also crashed during FP3, forcing his crew to work through the night to repair the car ahead of qualifying, where he started fifth on the grid.
As for Russell, his retirement hands a significant boost to the championship leader in his teammate Kimi Antonelli, who started from pole position and will look to extend his lead heading into the summer break. The Briton arrived at Spa needing a strong result to close the gap on Antonelli, and instead left empty-handed. At the same time, Hamilton's penalty further complicates Ferrari's afternoon in what was meant to be a recovery weekend for the Scuderia.